NCJ Number
181135
Date Published
1999
Length
101 pages
Annotation
The British Crime Survey (BCS) monitors drug use through questions framed in terms of three different recall periods: ever/lifetime, the last year, and the last month, and findings from the 1998 BCS and data trends between 1994 and 1998 are presented.
Abstract
The BCS survey report contains six chapters, the first of which briefly discusses the role of drug surveys in general to place the BCS drug survey component in context. The second chapter presents an up-to-date picture of the prevalence of drug use by young people between 16 and 29 years of age and for individuals between 16 and 59 years of age. The third chapter assesses changes in drug use prevalence between 1994 and 1998, with emphasis on the age group between 16 and 29 years. The fourth chapter examines cocaine and heroin use between 1994 and 1998 and notes declining heroin use but increasing cocaine use. The fifth chapter uses data from the 1996 and 1998 sweeps of the BCS to explore the extent to which deprivation underlies drug use. The final chapter presents information on changing drug use patterns between 1994 and 1998 for young people between 16 and 24 years of age. Appendixes provide supplemental information on the BCS and include drug self-completion questions. 52 references and 48 tables